Tuesday, 8 April 2014

To never know who she is

The news that Peaches Geldof had passed suddenly in unexplained circumstances yesterday afternoon shocked a lot of people and the statement from her father - 'we are beyond pain' - has been seen on all the front pages of all the nationals.

The news really shook me, as it has many other people. I didn't really know that much about her before but I do remember she took on Katie Hopkins on the subject of attachment parenting on This Morning a few months back and she really held her own. Serious brownie points there.

I also knew that she was a mother to two young boys, her youngest being just three weeks older than Ethan.

To think that her children will never know her. She will never take them to school. She will never have the chance to beam with pride when they take part in their first nativity play. She won't ever take part in the mums race on sports day. She won't have the chance to beam with pride when they get their A-Level results, when they pass their driving test, when they bring home the girl they hope to marry.

They will forever wonder what life would be like if their mum was still alive. They will hear countless stories of who she was and what she was like, all told second-hand in the hope they will provide some comfort and offer them some little piece of their mum that they can cherish.

Peaches often said in interviews that becoming a mother was like being born again. They gave her reason. They gave her life meaning.

And now, their lives must continue without her. With the support of their father and their wider family, they will grow up and find their own meaning in life.

But the meaning of a young woman passing before her time and leaving her beautiful boys behind is one I will never understand.